Creative writing students respond to campus art exhibits<\/p>\n
Inspiration comes in many shapes and sizes. For a few creative writing students, it came from the campus art gallery.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the best inspiration comes from some specific input from the outside world,\u201d said Jessica Breheny, English professor. \u201cArt is a really good place to get that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eight of Breheny\u2019s students returned to share poems they wrote amid some of the paintings that inspired them at the Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center Gallery on March 17 for the Women\u2019s History Month Ekphrastic Poetry Open Mic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really like ekphrasis poetry, which is poetry based on art,\u201d said Breheny, who was the first to share a poem.<\/p>\n
Despite examining the same paintings, reactions to them varied based on the personal experiences of the observers, which led to the poems covering a broad range of themes.<\/p>\n
Mildred Davila Perez, art major, said she was inspired by Johanna Uribes\u2019 \u201cIridescence,\u201d which captured a portion of a bespectacled woman\u2019s face. Davila Perez said she saw wisdom, knowledge, experience, hard work and tears in the woman\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I see a person with glasses, it brings alive the face of my mother,\u201d Davila Perez read from her poem.<\/p>\n
Linda Balcazar, English major, took a fantasy-based approach when writing about Uribes\u2019 \u201cIntense Eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thinking is it a cat, a wolf, a witch,\u201d Balcazar said. \u201cI said I\u2019ll make make her a witch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheena Henson, 24, art major, wrote about the works of Sandra Smith-Dugan using themes relevant to her own and many college-aged students\u2019 experiences, such as the darkness that accompanies a good time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I could write about that,\u201d Henson said, \u201cjust because it\u2019s a lifestyle I know about.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said her poem was about the party scene, full of young people who do not express their emotions and are only looking to have fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter everything is done, it\u2019s a reflection of how you feel,\u201d Henson said. \u201cI could just kind of therapeutically let it out.<\/p>\n
A similar sentiment was expressed by Eva Floyd, psychology major, who said she was inspired by Smith-Dugan\u2019s paintings \u201cGood Times\u201d and \u201cSingle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they were related,\u201d Floyd said. \u201cOne had a beginning and the other one finished it, but it was unfinished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Floyd said she saw darkness in the painting \u201cGood Times\u201d and wrote about the confusion of youth, when there can often be a fine line between having a good time and a bad time.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times a piece of art will pull you in, but you don\u2019t really know why; you just have a reaction,\u201d Breheny said. \u201cThe writing process can help you unpack that reaction.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Creative writing students respond to campus art exhibits Inspiration comes in many shapes and sizes. For a few creative writing students, it came from the campus art gallery. \u201cSome of the best inspiration comes from some specific input from the outside world,\u201d said Jessica Breheny, English professor. \u201cArt is a really good place to get…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":88908,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"staff_name":[627],"class_list":["post-9371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-campus-life","staff_name-sonia-waraich"],"yoast_head":"\n